The following is a very quick summary. See the Preparation rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

When the beta started in September 2011, Preperation remained at level 25. The skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13, and Preparation was classified as a Shadow skill and moved to level 19. For Beta Patch 14, it was re-classified as a Hunting skill and dropped to level 13. Also, the "Hunting" category replaced "Shadow".